Amanda Hovanec (37) from Ohio was sentenced to 40 years in prison for fatally injecting her husband Timothy Hovanec with a lethal substance during a child custody exchange in 2022.
Amanda pleaded guilty to multiple charges including distributing a controlled substance that led to Timothy’s death. The incident which took place on April 24, 2022 was captured on dashcam footage obtained from Timothy’s car.
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| Pictures: Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office |
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Amanda injected her husband with M-99- a highly potent drug typically used in veterinary medicine that is 1000 times more powerful than morphine. The footage shows Amanda confronting Timothy at her home in Wapakoneta, Ohio as he was dropping off their three daughters.
She sent the children into the house after which an altercation occurred between her and Timothy. He was heard expressing shock and asking “What the heck are you doing? Did you just assault me?” before telling her to get off him. The footage captured Amanda pulling on Timothy’s shirt knocking his phone out of his hand, and ultimately restraining him by the neck until he became unresponsive. She then turned off his car and stopped the dashcam recording.
Amanda admitted to disposing of her husband's body in a wooded area near her home with the help of her mother Anita Green and her boyfriend Anthony Theodorou, a South African national.
The motive behind the killing originated from a long-standing custody battle between Amanda and Timothy. After returning to the U.S. in 2020 from South Africa where they had lived due to Timothy’s job, Amanda denied him visitation with their children despite court orders. At the time of the murder, a judge had just ruled that Timothy would gain residential custody of the children starting in May 2022.
Authorities revealed that Amanda had been planning the murder for over a year even considering hiring a hitman before deciding to use M-99. Theodorou, who helped bury Timothy’s body, is also facing charges while Amanda’s mother Anita, received a 10-year prison sentence for being an accessory to the crime.
Amanda’s actions were described as cold-blooded and malicious with complete disregard for how the murder would affect her children. She was also ordered to pay over $2 million in restitution.